“I Me Mine”
A classroom of adults can be a strange compendium of personalities. Most are of an outgoing nature. There’s no obligation past high school to ever sit in front of a teacher again, so any soul who chooses to spend her Tuesday evenings tra la la’ing through a voice class is probably there of her own volition.
There’s a “B” side to this single, however. These proactive creatures tend to be the neediest. So much so that when the teacher asks, “Does anybody want to say how they feel right now?” arms shoot up to the sky in a way that would make even Stalin blush. And the answers are off-point to an alarming degree.
A reasonable assumption is that comments should be restricted to how a person felt about, say, the voice work just now completed, but stories of health insurance, struggles with the subway system, and workplace conflicts are offered with abandon. I tend to be the quiet one. Taking up time to discuss my relationship with my parents in a voice class cuts into my learning about… voice. I’m simple that way.
But these might be very unhappy people. If our happiness lies in the happiness of others (and I believe it does) then self-indulgence like this serves only to further our misery. It’s no different than a drug, really. The “hit” is bad for you, even if it feels good for a few minutes.
My skills as an actor leapt to a new level this past year. I haven’t had the right vehicle to show it yet, but I can feel it in my bones. And it arose from the simple premise that anything I do on stage or screen is about other people. Try it. Work with it. It’s a beautiful thing. And your voice will get stronger.
For the Mineralava Musings, this is Edoardo Ballerini.